World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Challenger Fabiano Caruana of the U.S. will be playing a 12-game chess match to determine who will be the World Chess Champion.

In case of a 6-6 tie, the World Chess Championship title will be decided by a tiebreak of two rapid games of 25'+10", followed by two 5'+3" blitz games. Armageddon will be the final game if the dead lock could not be broken.

The match will be played in London from November 9-28, 2018, with a prize fund of over 1 million euros.

Smelling the home-prep rat from Caruana, Carlsen decided to take with the Knight instead. 6...Nxb4

But Caruana responded instantly with 7. Bb2. This sends a clear message to Carlsen that he prepared for this too. So it is a deep psychological mind-game!

7...a6 8. a3 This is an important intermediate move. Otherwise White would have lost the initiative. Caruana is playing pretty fast. So it is clear that he is still in his book. Carlsen is slowly trying to figure out how to avoid the pitfalls in the Caruana dangerous opening web!

9... Rxa1 10. Bxa1 d611. bxc5 Ne7 Carlsen is following the line I suggested. He has to be a little patient dealing with the double b pawn. But with correct play, he should be OK.

12 Qe2 b4 13. Qc4 It is interesting to see the pace of Caruana. He is playing extremely fast no matter how Carlsen tried to deviate. This is World Championship mind-games at the highest level. This speed can really put doubts in the opponent's mind.

I do not envy Magnus at the moment. He has clearly walked in to Fabiano's home prep. And this line is a lot sharper and more concrete than some of the previous games we have seen in this match. 12. Qe2 This was a novelty compared to an earlier game (12. cxd6 Qxd6 13. d4 exd4 14. Bxd4 O-O Polschikov, A (2270) - Anoshkin, A (2386) Pardubice

2007 where Black had no problems).

​Something like this would lead to an equal position 13... Qa5 14. cxd6 Be6 15. Qc7 Qxc7 16. dxc7 Nc6.

13...Qa5 Carlsen once again followed the move I suggested and with correct play, he can equalize and hold in spite of getting into Caruana's book. He is not a World Champion for no reason 😃 Carlsen is like 007. He knows how to get out of trouble 🤣

​14 cxd6 Be6 Both players are following the variation I suggested above. I think Carlsen is out of trouble and his position should be OK now. Caruana's is finally thinking. That could only mean 2 things: 1) He is trying to remember his analysis 2) He is out of his opening prep. So now, play ball, mano a mano!

​15 Qc7 Qxc7 16. dxc7 They are still following exactly what I suggested. First, Caruana sacrificed a pawn. Now Carlsen gave back the pawn and sacrificed a pawn. He will have no problem winning the c7 pawn back. I must have had a crystal ball 🤣 Position is equal 👍 After Nc6 to defend the e5 pawn, Black will recapture the pawn on c7. No problem at all.

16...Nc6 17. c3 Now Carlsen CANNOT take on c3. This will give Caruana an extra tempo with 18. Nxc3 and the Knight can defend the c7 dangerous pawn. Therefore, Carlsen must ignore and play 17...Kd7 18. cxb4 Ra8 =

I think 17. Rd1 or 17. d4 would have been a little better. Now, Carlsen has consolidated his position, have a dangerous Bishop pair, and a comfortable endgame.

17...Kd7 18. cxb4 Ra8 Now I like Carlsen's position better. It is easier to play. He has more than enough compensation for the temporary sacrificed pawns.

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All of a sudden, the tide has turned. After an inferior 17. c3, Caruana now has a problem finding good squares for his pieces. He has to be extremely careful and it is now Carlsen's turn to strike back. The momentum has shifted after the promising opening surprise.

After 18...Ra8, Caruana is spending a lot of time. He now realizes that in spite of being temporarily up 2 pawns, he could be in trouble. The best move now is 19. Bc3 but then his Knight has no place to go. A big mess! So the cause is 17. c3 His pieces are in a tight space.

19 Bc3 Kxc7 20. d3 The instinctive move to try to free up the d2 square for the Knight on b1 may not be perfectly timed. I think Caruana was better suited to play more actively with 20. Rc1 threatening the e5 pawn due to the pin, or perhaps 20. Ng5.

Now, if Carlsen finds 20...b5, he will block the b4 pawn, and in a few moves, he can take it after f6 defending the e5 pawn, then Bf8. Then white will have problems dealing with the passed b pawn and Black's Bishop pair.

20...Kb6 Wow! I cannot believe that was what Carlsen played after spending so much time for this move. This is the key difference between Carlsen at his peak and the Carlsen now. He was so much more lethal then with this type of position.

I would really be interested to find out what went on in Carlsen's mind not to play 20...b5, eventually winning back the b4 pawn, and have a passed b pawn with a pair of Bishop supporting it! A real big miss for Carlsen here!

Now Caruana will have time to consolidate and hold.

In chess, just like in other sports, momentum is so important. Neither of these 2 players "float like a butterfly or sting like a bee" so far in this match. It is more like float like a hippo and sting like a mosquito.

21 Bd2 The good news is neither has made a big leap so far so the match is still even. This shows the tremendous pressure these players are facing in a World Championship. It is much easier for the fans to watch at home.

I remember the emotions I had to overcome in the first few games in my World Championship match in 1996. After I got the momentum, it was crushing the rest of the way. So the one who scores first in this match will have a huge boost.

​Black cannot really take advantage of the backward d3 pawn with Rd8 yet because of Be3+ followed by Rd1.

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21...Rd8 So now I expect 22. Be3+

22 Be3+ Now there is an interesting possibility of 22... Kb5 23. Nc3+ Kxb4 24. Nd5+ Bxd5 25. exd5 Rxd526. Rb1+ Kc3 27. Rxb7 Nd8 28. Rc7+ Kxd3. Carlsen will be up a pawn but Caruana will have no issue holding this game.

22...Be3+ Kb5 23. Nc3+ Kxb4 24. Nd5+ Bxd5 25. exd5 Rxd5 26. Rb1+ Kc3 27. Rxb7 Nd8 The players followed my suggested line. Caruana should be able to hold this game in spite of being a pawn down.

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28 Rc7+ Kxd3 29 Kf1 Carlsen must be careful even though he is a pawn up. His King may be trapped after white plays g4 cutting the escape route back to f5. Therefore, Caruana has enough compensation for the pawn down. I think Carlsen missed this completely. He can be in the real danger zone!

Carlsen correct played 29...h5 to prevent white from playing g4.

30 h3 to once again threatening g4.

30...Ke4 31. Ng5+ Kf5 32. Nxf7 Nxf7 33. Rxf7+ Bf6 Carlsen is giving back a pawn. As expected, the game ended in a draw. 1/2